Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!PSUVM.BITNET!ART100 From: ART100@PSUVM.BITNET ("Andy Tefft 862-6728", 814) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Re: Beware... Message-ID: <8904101252.aa26965@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> Date: 10 Apr 89 16:49:00 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Reply-To: ART100%psuvm.psu.edu@cunyvm.cuny.edu Organization: The Internet Lines: 74 Original note: > >From: Lewis Kreme Butler >Daveharv@pro-novapple.cts.com wrote: >| >|I called my dealer. I called several dealers. Every one of them said that >|Apple would NOT supply a replacement chip. The ONLY way they could fix the >|problem was a new motherboard! $250 for parts and labor! >| >|So I got the number for Shreve Systems in Louisiana and ordered a new Ensoniq >|chip. For about $55.00 total they Federal Expressed me the chip. I put it in >|this morning, and the machine works just fine now. >| >|This goes beyond just DUMB. It's highway robbery on Apple's part. I still >|can't believe it. > >Hehehe... I had almost the exact same problem with my apple //e. When >installing a clock, I accidently broke one of the pins on the CD ROM chip. >I thought, well, I can fix it, but once it's broken I will probably have >to keep fixing it. So, I called the local apple dealer with part number >in hand and said "How much to replace this one chip?" They laughed and >said... "$70" I said, "I got it, the EF ROM, the 65C02, and the Character >Generator ROM all for 49.95, how can one be $70?" They said, "Well, that's >what Apple charges. Nothing we can do about it." Yeah, right. So, I got >the chip sodered for $1 (yes, ONE) and pluged it in to my clock. works >fine, though I'm scared of pulling it out. > >So, what's their problem? I mean they should have provided the enhancement >free in the first place, and they certainly have no reason to be charging >$70 for a chip worth about $2.00. WHat slimeballs. I wish I'd included the other article along these lines but it's long gone... This type of thing is EXACTLY why I am running my //c with only one drive. I'm pretty sure it's only one chip blown, or maybe a capacitor, something small, but if I take it to a dealer it's going to cost me approximately 10-20 times the actual replacement cost. Only hardware failure I've had on my //e was some of the keyboard switches wore out (the I key and then about 6 months later the closed apple) after about 3 years or so. $15 to fix it, $5 for the switch, $10 for labor. Not bad, considering I couldn't locate the switch and didn't want to worry about soldering it in. But still, $10 for about 5 minutes worth of work... A while ago my uncle gave me a drive, which would spin forever and track but never read or write. He knew from experience which chip was bad (an a/d converter i guess) and got me the chip, $1. plug-n-play. How much would it have cost to get it done at an Apple dealer? I shudder just thinking of it. Don't blame it on Apple though. Everyone knows that electronics are over- priced, but those of us studying to be electrical engineers learn just HOW overpriced they are. Examples: $50 for a serial/parallel converter that can be built for about $10 (we actually built one of these in lab, no handshaking, but that can be taken care of, and it took a line driver, 555 timer, shift register, and a dual one-shot, oh yeah and a teeny transistor) A while ago at a hamfest, 300-baud modem kit for $25, incl. schematics, and this was when 300-baud modems were going for a couple hundred The list goes on and on. Of course, this does tell me why Apple is pushing the Mac - they must get ENORMOUS amounts of money from maintenance, and it's much easier to tell a mac owner 'replace the motherboard' than a //e owner! We can actually SEE the chips inside without voiding our warranties! Actually my only experience with macs has been a little software experience (why should I have to reboot just because there wasn't enough memory to load a file??) but I guess that still applies.